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6.28.2011

We practiced having a baby brother . . .

. . . and it didn't go so well.

Our friends Rob and Nina have a 6 week old little boy. They brought him over on Saturday to see our new apartment and visit for a little while.
While Nina was holding Baby Graham, Maddox was very interested. He would approach Graham, and then back away, only to approach him again a couple minutes later. He was very curious about this little person. Eventually he worked up the courage to touch the baby. He (gently) picked up his foot and looked at it. He touched his arm and hand. It was all very cute!

Then, Nina handed Graham over to me. This is when things went awry.

As soon as I sat down with Graham, Maddox came right over. Only this time, he took one look at Graham and threw himself on the floor in tears. I tried to comfort him, and told him to come sit by me on the couch. He climbed up on the couch and immediately hit baby Graham on the head. I was shocked, to say the least. I corrected him, and tried to reassure him. I put my arm around Maddox and tried to explain to him about the baby. He tried two more times to hit Graham, which I was able to intercept, and then finished by climbing in my lap and trying to push Graham out of the way. Crying and/or whining the whole time.

So I gave up and handed the unphased baby back to his mama, feeling slightly embarrassed. I was totally blind sided by Maddox's behavior. I really didn't think anything of it when I picked Graham up. It never even entered my mind that it was a rehearsal of sorts for Mason's grand entrance, and that it might make Maddox unhappy.

Needless to say, I am more than a little worried about how Maddox is going to react when his little brother makes an appearance. I won't be able to hand the baby over to his mama and comfort the jealous Bubba when things get rough. Newsflash: I AM the mama. But, I suppose lots of toddlers who are close to their mama's have jealousy when a new sibling arrives. I am just going to have to work hard to spend time with each of my boys individually. I know some days will be hard. Really hard. But I will look forward to those precious moments when those sweet babies who both desperately needed my attention become brothers and best friends. Then I will know that it was all worth it.